- Startups - News Panel with Niel Robertson and Jon Ferrara - TWiST #254

TL;DR

Zynga's acquisition of OMGpop may not have been a smart move, while LinkedIn buys SlideShare for $119 million.

Transcript

bandwidth for this week in startups provided by liquidweb.com today's episode of this weekend startups is brought to you by Trotta the leader in crowdsourced online advertising marketing and by e-minits lawyers who focus on forming and maintaining corporations and LLCs Neil from trotta's with us John from Nimble is with us lot Harris is here to rea... Read More

Key Insights

• 🏣 Zynga's $200 million acquisition of OMGpop for Draw Something may not have paid off with a sharp decline in popularity post-acquisition.
• 👤 LinkedIn's purchase of SlideShare for $119 million aims to provide users with embedded presentations on the platform, enhancing user experience.
• 😖 SlideShare, founded in 2006, originally targeted B2B companies for internal document sharing before pivoting to become a popular platform for sharing slideshows.
• 😀 The tech industry's unpredictable nature and the lifespan of apps can pose challenges for high-profile acquisitions like Zynga's of OMGpop.

Questions & Answers

Q: Did Zynga's acquisition of OMGpop turn out to be a good investment?

Zynga's acquisition of OMGpop for $200 million may not have been a wise move as Draw Something's popularity quickly declined post-acquisition, leading to stock price concerns.

Q: What was LinkedIn's motivation behind acquiring SlideShare?

LinkedIn purchased SlideShare for $119 million to enhance its platform with embedded presentations, offering users a more informative and engaging experience on the site.

Q: How did SlideShare evolve since its founding in 2006?

SlideShare was initially launched as a B2B service for companies to internally share slideshows and documents, later expanding to become a platform where users can upload and share slideshows in various formats.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Zynga's high profile acquisition of OMGpop for $200 million may have backfired as Draw Something's popularity declined sharply post-acquisition.

• LinkedIn purchases SlideShare for $119 million to provide users with access to embedded presentations on the platform, enhancing the site's informative capabilities.